In response to the release of the redacted Mueller report, SDDP Executive Director Sam Parkinson released the following statement:

“The parts of the report which have been made public make it clearer than ever that Congress needs to see the full report so it can carry out its constitutional duty and conduct fully-informed oversight of the matters discussed in the report. The behavior of the attorney general surrounding the release of this redacted report has been stunning and completely inappropriate; rather than act as the American people’s lawyer, the attorney general has acted as the president’s lawyer.

“Even with the many redactions, the report reveals the negligence and corruption of the Trump campaign and Trump administration. The Trump campaign was happy to benefit from the interference of a foreign adversary to win an election, and when an investigation was launched into this interference, Donald Trump did everything he could to keep the truth from the American people – to the point of obstruction, intimidation, and abuse of power.

“Finally, this redacted report also shows the corruption at the heart of the Republican Party. From the beginning, Republicans in Congress – including South Dakota’s elected officials – have shown themselves to be more interested in protecting the president and aiding his campaign of concealing the truth from the American people than in fulfilling their constitutional role as an independent branch and check on the president.

“The belief in the rule of law is a foundational pillar of our country. No one – not even the president – is above the law. With the release of this redacted report, it is more urgent than ever that Senators Rounds and Thune and Representative Johnson join their Democratic colleagues in Washington in upholding that principle, even if it means the president will send out a mean tweet about them.”